Trash Talk: Price of Recyclables Sinks After China Bans U.S. Scrap

Some U.S. manufacturers are turning trash into treasure after a Chinese ban on imported waste flooded American scrapyards with paper and plastic.

The import ban, announced in July, sent global prices for waste paper and plastic into a tailspin. Without access to their Chinese customers, U.S. waste and recycling firms are scrambling to find new buyers for the scrap they collect from curbside bins.